The ABCs of Iraq Injuries

Is Bob Woodruff getting too much coverage?

I was surprised to keep getting that question in yesterday's online chat .

"I am sorry to hear that Bob Woodruff and his cameraman was hurt in Iraq, but it seems like thousands of GI's and civilians have been seriously injured, and we hear very little about them," an Arlington reader said.

"It's a tragedy of course that the ABC crew has been seriously injured in Iraq -- but does it warrant the 'breaking news' coverage it's received?" said another in Bainbridge, Ga. "American soldiers and contractors are injured and worse every day over there and they barely get a few odd grafs."

A Madison, Wis., reader added: "Are they any more newsworthy than the injuries that befall our soldiers each and every day? Is this just media myopia?"

These are fair questions. Obviously, as an anchor for a major network, Woodruff enjoys a certain degree of fame, and famous people tend to get more media coverage. After all, Peter Jennings was only one of many who died of lung cancer, Martha Stewart was only one of many convicted in an insider trading case, and Kobe Bryant was only one of many accused of sexual assault. The outpouring of e-mail to ABC about Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt underscores the point.

Famous people also tend to become symbols, and Woodruff has become emblematic of the vulnerability of U.S. troops to these roadside IEDs, and of the media's difficulty in covering this war. Everyone I've talked to at ABC stresses that they understand that many American soldiers have been killed or wounded by these bombs, even though their names are not widely known. Woodruff and Vogt, of course, risked their lives precisely so they could tell the story of the war, and specifically whether Iraqi troops are able to assume more of the burden from the American forces.

I have worried aloud about whether the media are suffering from Iraq fatigue -- whether, as we approach the three-year mark of this bloody conflict, the daily drumbeat of five, 10 or 20 killed in Iraq gets shoved inside the paper as other news -- Abramoff, Alito, Katrina -- takes center stage. I think we need to guard against that as best we can. But it's not surprising that when a Bob Woodruff is badly injured or a Jill Carroll is kidnapped -- and it pains me to see everyone using her captors' latest cowardly videotape of her crying -- that this infuses the story with fresh attention and underscores the continuing dangers in Iraq for everyone, soldiers, contractors and journalists.

I've got the latest on the condition of Woodruff and Vogt here, and a bit on the short-term problem facing ABC News just weeks after naming its anchor team.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Ken Dilanian assesses the media impact of such incidents:

"Many journalists are forbidden by their security consultants from leaving the confines of their hotels. Though not in the protected Green Zone, those hotels are surrounded by armed guards and concrete blast walls. Often, news organizations send their Iraqi employees to do interviews and gather information.

"When they do go out, most Western reporters take elaborate precautions that range from armed escorts to security chase cars to disguises.